


Sweet Dreams

by jordimeryle



Category: Frostiron - Fandom, Marvel
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 00:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2046294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordimeryle/pseuds/jordimeryle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the OTP prompt: One wakes up one morning to find the other passed away in their sleep</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Dreams

“I love you.” Were the first words, actual words, that Loki spoke after their lovemaking.  
Tony pretended not to hear, sure that the god was just over stimulated from their sheet dancing. Instead, he pulled out slowly and rested Loki on his side, bringing the thin man’s back flush against his chest.  
But Loki repeated himself, turning toward Tony, placing a hand on Tony’s face.  
“I love you.” He said, his eyes were full of light and love and something Tony couldn’t yet place, but it was nice.  
Loki reached closer and placed a single kiss to Tony’s lips, soft and caring. As he pulled away, he took in Tony’s face again and a soft serene smile spilled over that thin pale face framed in dark knotted locks.  
Tony wasn’t sure what to say, such words never really gracing his lips and holding meaning.  
He had told Pepper that he loved her a few times, but the way Loki said it...and to him no less...it confused him.  
When Loki spoke again, it was quiet, his head bowed.  
“You may not feel the same, but…” He shook his head. “You took me in when no one else would. You didn’t turn me over to SHIELD, nor did you treat me like the villain I am and for that, Anthony Stark, I am grateful.”  
Tony shrugged.   
“I had no reason to turn you in. It wouldn’t give me much. What would I gain?” He tried to laugh, but at Loki’s giant green eyes looked upon him again, the laugh died in his throat.  
“You could have killed me, spared the world the mischief that I know you thought Thor had brought you.” Loki said and Tony began to object, but he continued. “But you didn’t. You took me in when I was broken and too exhausted to even keep my eyes open. I was vulnerable and you never took advantage of that. You became...a...a friend.”  
Loki smiled at him, carefree and warm, his hand on Tony’s chest, over his heart and he gave a small chuckle.  
“When you took me in, ‘friend’ was not a term I had used in a very long time…” He told. “Not since before the Bifrost. Even then, they were always Thor’s friends and not my own. I was the tag along. A burden that Thor drug around. The annoying younger brother.”  
Tony rose an eyebrow.  
“But with you…” Loki smiled and his smile seemed to light up the dark room. “With you, I feel wanted.”  
He kissed Tony again, this time Tony kissed him back, making the god moan a bit as their lips and tongues fought for dominance.  
“I love you.” Loki said again as they pulled away. “And I want to give you something.”  
“Wh-”   
But Loki was gone, having sprung out of the bed ass-naked and went sprinting down the hall like a mad man, only to come back holding a small box with a single red ribbon atop it.  
As Tony sat up, Loki sat beside him and placed the box in the inventor’s lap.  
“Open it.” Loki said, his voice soft.  
Tony looked at Loki, silently questioning, but Loki smiled and waited.  
Slowly, Tony lifted the lid and examined the contents: A single golden apple.  
“It is an apple from the garden of Idunn.” Loki explained, kind eyes washing over the confusion found on Tony’s face. “It will keep you young, expand your life. Asgardians eat them. That is why we live so long.”  
As Tony put the apple back in the box and shook his head, Loki’s face fell.  
“I don’t want this.” Tony said. “Look, Lokes, I still have a few years.”  
“But not enough.” Loki said, his eyes round with worry. “I have years over you, Tony. Your life is dwindling. I do not wish to see you die.”  
Tony handed back the box and Loki’s face crumbled to that of hurt and pain.  
“And I don’t want to, but I can’t take your apple of I-don’t-even-know-what”  
“Idunn.” Loki corrected.  
“Right.” Tony nodded and tried to pull Loki closer, but he refused, pushing away, his face bowed, peering at the box. “Just go with the flow, Lokes. I’m not dying anytime soon.”  
Loki said nothing, taking the box in hand and tossing it to the floor.  
“Fine.” Loki sounded defeated as Tony pulled him closer, making him lie down next to him and held him close.  
“Can’t we just live now?” Tony shot him a dazzling smile and pulled in for a kiss, but Loki turned his head and Tony pulled away.  
He knew that Loki was hurt, but he was serious when he said he didn’t want the apple. He wasn’t going to mess with things he didn’t understand. He did that enough with the sciences and mechanicals that sat in his workshop. But this apple, it was new. It was something he didn’t understand fully and although it hurt Loki when he denied the gift, he had to. He didn’t know what it would do. He was afraid.  
Loki turned away from the inventor, laying on his side, wide awake and planning.  
As the silence between them grew, a soft snoring could be heard and Loki turned on his back to see that Tony had fallen asleep.  
He faced his sleeping lover, placing a soft hand on his face, tracing his lips with his fingertips slowly and grazing his cheekbones with his thumb.  
“My beautiful mortal,” Loki whispered, his voice low and sweet, barely audible so as not to wake Tony. “I cannot live without you. I will not.”  
He left the bed slowly and silently, making his way through the dark and silent halls until he found the library and his magic books.  
Surely there was a spell to keep Tony young without the need of the golden apple.  
As he skimmed through his books at a high speed, he finally found an age spell.  
It would use most of his magic, it seemed, for it was a large-scale spell, but it would be worth it if it meant growing old with Tony.  
The spell, although the words simple, left him tired and sore, his sedir all but drained from his body. With the spell in place, he moved through the hall once more, finding Tony’s room and laying down beside him, waking the mortal slightly with his movements.  
“Hush.” Loki whispered, kissing Tony’s cheek. “It’s only me. Go back to sleep.”  
Tony complied, holding Loki close like a child with a teddy bear and before he knew it, Tony was snoring again.  
Loki positioned himself, curling in toward Tony, his knees up at the inventor’s waist, his cold feet tops-up against warm thighs. He rested his forehead against Tony’s chest, breathing in Tony’s scent, knowing that the spell would work, that Tony’s life would be added to, lengthened without his knowing.  
“Sweet dreams, my darling mortal.” Loki kissed Tony’s chest once, letting his lips linger.  
As Loki lay there, he began to feel aches, his back hurt and his ribs rubbed against the springs of the mattress. He wrote it off as exhaustion from the spell, his body’s way of telling him that he was foolish for using so much magic. He let his exhaustion lull him to sleep, concentrating on Tony’s warm arms around him rather than the aches and pains he felt.  
\--  
With the sun, Tony woke, his eyes bleary from his late night. In his arms, still peacefully asleep, was Loki. Tony smiled at him, wanting to wake him with kisses and ‘all that romantic shit’ as he would usually call it when Loki tried it on him, but memories of the night before came rushing back and he groaned loudly, jumping when he realized that maybe his sounds had woken Loki. He turned toward his thin lover, but nothing. No movement.  
His face was peaceful in his sleeping, long eyelashes fanned down, his mouth small and pale. His cheeks were so very pale and the way his hands were balled at his own chest, it made him look like a child.  
Tony sat up slowly, trying his best to not jostle his sleeper, but jostling him none the less.  
But something was off.   
The way he moved when Tony moved away from the bed.  
He shook the bed, testing.  
His heart dropped at he shook the bed again, Loki moving like a ragdoll, his face falling between the two pillows, face down to the mattress.  
“Loki?” Tony asked. No response. “LOKI!”  
Tony shook his lover, the pale man’s skin cold.  
But Loki was always cold...but never this cold.  
“Lokes, come on, wake up.” Tony tried, shaking Loki.  
He grabbed Loki by the shoulders and shook him, but nothing worked.  
Nothing, the only movement from the god coming from when Tony shook him.  
“Jar!” Tony yelled, pulling Loki close, trying to feel for a pulse but failing.  
“I need an ambulance and Bruce.” Tony’s voice was loud and panicked. “NOW!”  
With both called, Bruce came first, checking for a pulse just as Tony had. Tony refused to let go of the limp thin man, making things difficult for the scientist, but not impossible.  
“Tony,” Bruce sat back on his heels and took off his glasses to clean them, a nervous gesture that Tony knew well. “I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think the ambulance will help. He’s cold.”  
“No.” Tony shook his head, his eyes red with tears he refused to let fall. “Try something else.”  
“Tony, he’s gone.” Bruce placed his glasses back on his face. “And he’s cold. Really cold.”  
“He’s always cold.” Tony tried. “He’s a frost giant.”  
“No, Tony, he’s dead.”  
That’s when Tony crumpled, letting the tears fall into Loki hair as he buried his face in the raven locks, holding the still god under the arms and to his chest.  
“He can’t.” Tony cried through sobs.  
He allowed himself to cry still as Bruce made his way out of the room, giving the two lovers some space.  
Then Tony had an idea.  
“The apple.” Tony jumped up, bringing Loki with him. Loki was just thin weight. Although he had recovered for the most part from his tortures and imprisonment, he was still thin and it was easy for Tony to carry him.  
The inventor scrambled to the apple, tossing the lid of the box away and carving a bit of the golden fruit away with his thumb nail.  
He placed the small piece in Loki’s mouth, having to move the fragile jaw to make him chew, but the apple did nothing.  
Not even shoving already-chewed bits down his throat helped.  
Nothing. That’s what Tony had now. Nothing.  
And yet, he couldn’t let Loki go, adjusting his grip on the rag-doll of a man. He cradled Loki to his chest, Tony’s tears wetting Loki’s sleeping face.  
-  
A knock at the door made Tony jump, his tears gone, replaced with a hole in his soul.  
Slowly, the door opened and in came Steve carrying a book. On his heels, Thor snuck in, his eyes sad to see his younger brother so pale and still.  
“Tony,” Steve said, kneeling beside Tony, showing him the book. “You should see this.”  
The inventor looked it over, but nothing made sense of it.  
“It is a spell.” Thor informed. “To add years to ones life, taking away from another’s.”  
Thor came forward, his eyes never leaving Loki’s face.  
“We think Loki was trying to give you a longer life or something.” Steve said. “But we’re not sure.”  
“It is a tricky spell.” Thor’s voice was low as he crouched down to Tony’s level, balancing on the balls of his feet. “One which is in a book of dark magic for a reason.”  
Thor explained that the spell, only if done properly, would bind two lives together, elongating one life while taking a bit from the other.  
“He must have done something wrong.” Steve said.  
Thor shook his head.  
“He is always so careful.” Thor finally placed a hand on Loki’s chest, feeling for himself that a heart no longer beat beneath the thin shirt Tony had wrestled on Loki when he was waiting for Bruce and an ambulance to show up. “This is not like him. Did he say any-”  
Thor spotted the apple as he spoke and his gut twisted.  
“An apple of Idunn.” He said, as if that made sense to anyone but Tony and himself. He looked up to Tony. “He meant to prolong your life, but something happened…?”  
“I wouldn’t take it.” Tony confessed.  
He shook his head, not lifting his hand from Loki’s chest, his eyes closing.  
“He had told me once that he wished to grow old with you.” Thor sighed. “Perhaps this was his plan...the apple.”  
The tears started anew to Tony’s surprise. He honestly wasn’t sure if he had any left.  
Thor stood, his hand finally falling away from his younger.  
“I must take him home.” Thor said. “Give him a proper funeral.”  
“You’re not taking him away from me.” Tony held Loki tighter, Loki’s face falling against Tony’s chest.  
“Then you must come with me.” Thor said, his voice kingly and demanding. “And you must do as I say.”  
No one argued. Tony stood, holding Loki tightly.  
-  
Moving through the portal made Tony’s stomach churn, but his grip on his lover never failed even as Thor held him and they shot up.  
The two men moved past the gatekeeper silently, Thor nodding to Heimdall before making their way to the city.  
As soon as the golden doors of the throne room opened, Frigga came running, saying not a word as she placed gentle hands on her son, using her magic to determine what was wrong.  
Odin stood from the throne as Frigga looked back at him with wide alarmed eyes. Very little frightened his queen, but this...he came closer.  
“Take him to the healers.” Odin instructed.  
Frigga held Loki’s thin cold hand as she moved the three of them through corridors and hallways lined with wall-hanging fabrics, all the while remaining silent.  
Arriving at the healing wing, the healers all stood at attention as the queen moved quickly to the stone table, instructing Tony to lay Loki on the slab.  
Tony did as instructed, but kept a firm grip on Loki’s hand, trying to warm the cold hand with his own warm ones.  
“He needs healing.” The queen demanded. “He has no sedir left, his body is cold, but I will not lose him, do you hear?”  
Tony watched her until Thor pulled him away, letting the healers surround Loki’s thin frame.  
The mortal began to object, but Thor silenced him with a single look.  
\-   
Hours passed and with every moment, Tony’s stomach knotted and his heart threatened to rip out of his chest.  
The healers moved around quickly, magic sparking, mumbling in a language that Tony couldn’t understand. Yet as they worked, Tony pleaded with whatever higher power there was that Loki would..could wake up.  
Just to see his face light up one last time…  
“I should have just taken the apple…” Tony said, his voice soft and mostly to himself, but Thor heard.  
“You didn’t know.” Thor told. “Do not put this upon your shoulders. Loki’s actions are his own.”  
Tony shook his head, his eyes still on the healers.  
After hours and hours, the healers began to leave one by one, having either given up or in need of rest. Perhaps Loki was actually gone…  
Tony moved out of Thor’s grip and moved toward Loki, no one stopping him.  
The queen looked up from her hard work on her son, but said nothing as Tony laid a hand on Loki’s unmoving chest.  
“I love you, too.” He whispered. “I should have told you. I love you too.”  
Frigga backed away, allowing the two a moment.  
“And I don’t know what to do now...you’re gone and I don’t know what to do.” He gave a dry chuckle. “And I always know what to do.”  
He sighed and bent over Loki, hoping to hear breath.  
“I should have just taken the damned apple.” He swore, eyes closed, tears falling.  
The room was still for a very long time, the two Asgardians sitting idly by.  
“I love you.” Tony said.  
He kissed Loki one last time before turning away, looking up at Thor, ready to ask to be taken back home, his heart broken and a large vortex swirling at his stomach, when something stopped him.  
“I love you too.” Came a voice, quiet and hoarse, but heard. “Anthony, I love you too.”  
Tony turned just as Frigga gripped Thor’s hand in happiness and exhaustion from so many hours of trying to bring her baby back to life.  
The inventor scooped up the pale god, and kissed him repeatedly.  
“Ow.” Loki protested weakly. “Careful, Anthony.”  
“Welcome back.” Tony said between kisses, then he pulled away quickly, becoming very serious. “Never scare me like that again. Ever. I’ll eat your damn apple, but you can’t scare me like that again. No more dark magic.”  
Loki nodded slowly, smiling up at his lover and gingerly lifting his neck to kiss the mortal.  
“I love you.” He whispered into his kiss.  
“I love you.” Tony answered. “Now let’s go home.”  
“Not just yet.” Frigga objected, stepping forward. “He must stay here until I know he is strong enough.”  
“Then I’ll stay, too.” Tony said, keeping a gentle hold on Loki.  
Loki let himself fall against his lover as his mother spoke about technical things.  
After Frigga’s lecture, she allowed Tony to carry Loki to his room, Loki pointing the way weakly.  
“You don’t have to stay.” Loki said as his mortal laid him down on the plush bed.  
Tony shook his head. “Where you go, I go. I’m not leaving.” He kissed Loki again, settling down beside him.  
“I’m so tired.” Loki sighed, seeking Tony for warmth and nuzzling close.  
“Then sleep.” Tony said, quietly, kissing the thin man’s brow. “I’ll be here when you wake. And you will wake up again.”  
Loki smiled and nodded.   
Tony kissed his lips and pulled him closer very gently. “Sweet dreams.”


End file.
